Packaged non-woven garments

ABSTRACT

A method for containerlessly packaging non-woven safety garments to minimize particulate shedding, including at least partially filling a pressing cavity of a orthorhombic parallelepiped shape with compressible, non-woven safety garments, applying isostatic pressure to the cavity to compact the garments into a compressed mass, wrapping the compressed mass and removing the compressed mass from the cavity. The wrapped compressed mass retains a substantially rectangularly parallelepiped shape and is substantially free of loose particulate matter.

REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a divisional application claiming priority topending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/428,728, filed on Jul. 5,2006, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 10/798,646, filed Mar. 11, 2004, now abandoned.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present technology relates generally to the field of packaging, andmore specifically to a method and apparatus for providing boxless andregularly shaped stackable packages of safety garments.

BACKGROUND

Safety garments, such as disposable smocks, jumpsuits, gloves, shoecoverings, and hair coverings, are required apparel for the performanceof many jobs. Some of the jobs requiring safety garments are performedin clean room environments, wherein it is desired that the introductionof foreign matter be minimalized. For example, technicians in certainsensitive medical fields dealing with infectious matter, aerospaceresearchers assembling interplanetary probes, and material scientistsdeveloping and manufacturing ultrapure materials all wear safetygarments in clean room environments. The safety garments perform thedual function of protecting the wearer from the potentially hazardousmaterials he is working with as well as preventing unwanted matter fromthe wearer's person from contaminating his work product.

Safety garments are typically provided in lots containing a plurality ofidentical safety garments. These lots are typically provided in boxesmade of a structural material such as cardboard, and are shaped asregularly sized rectangular blocks for ease of storage and handling. Thesafety garments are typically packed into these boxes, either by hand orby machine. One drawback of providing boxed safety garments is thatparticulate organic material may from the packaging process and/or fromthe box itself may adhere to the safety garment, thus partiallydefeating the purpose of the clean room environment. Further, the boxesthemselves tend to attract vermin such as rodents and insects that enjoyconsuming organic comestibles such as cardboard packaging. In additionto producing excess packaging particles when consuming the packagingmaterial, such vermin also contribute even more particulatecontamination in the form of carried dirt, shed hair, fecal wastematter, and the like. Thus, cardboard boxes are problematic for thetransport and storage of safety garments intended for clean room use.

One partial solution has been to bag the safety garments in polymer bagsor the like that do not contribute particulate contaminants and do notattract vermin. The problem with this approach is that the bags areinherently irregularly shaped and are thus not easily or convenientlystacked for storage and transport. Another partial solution has been topackage the safety garments in boxes made of inorganic materials, suchas plastics or metal that do not shed particulate contaminants and donot attract vermin. However, such packaging materials are inherentlymore expensive than traditional boxes and cannot be easily broken downfor disposal, contributing even more expense to the enclosed products.

There thus remains a need for a need for an inexpensive packaging systemthat does not contribute particulate contamination, does not attractvermin and may be easily stacked for storage and readily disposed ofafter it has served its purpose. The presently claimed technologyaddresses this need.

SUMMARY

The claimed technology relates to a method and apparatus forcompressively packaging safety garments to form stackable wrappedblocks. Compressible safety garments are placed into a rectangularparallelepiped compression chamber and an isostatic ram operationallyconnected to the compression chamber is inserted thereinto to apply acompression force to the garments. The resulting compressed rectangularparallelepiped blocks are wrapped in flexible plastic wrapping materialto yield wrapped rectangular parallelepiped blocks that may be stackedand stored for future use.

One object of the claimed technology is to provide an improved methodand apparatus for packaging safety garments. Related objects andadvantages of the claimed technology will be apparent from the followingdescription.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a first embodiment apparatus forproducing wrapped compressed blocks of safety garments.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged partial view of the embodiment of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of safety garments being loaded into thecompression chamber of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of safety garments being compressed in theapparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a compressed block of safety garments inthe apparatus of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the compressed block of safety garments ofFIG. 5 being wrapped.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the wrapped block of safety garments aswrapped in FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a perspective illustration of a block of garments.

FIG. 9 is a perspective illustration of a stack of blocks of garments.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles of theclaimed technology and presenting its currently understood best mode ofoperation, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated inthe drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. Itwill nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of theclaimed technology is thereby intended, with such alterations andfurther modifications in the illustrated device and such furtherapplications of the principles of the claimed technology as illustratedtherein being contemplated as would normally occur to one skilled in theart to which the claimed technology relates.

FIGS. 1-7 schematically illustrate a first embodiment of the claimedtechnology, a packaging apparatus 10 and method for the containerless orboxless packaging of non-woven garments 12, such as smocks or coverallsmade from spunbond/melt blown/melt blown/spunbond (SMMS) material andthe like. The nonwoven garments 12 are characterized by a substantiallack of fibers as well as by an associated loose density. The nonwovengarments are likewise typically characterized by a substantial lack ofassociated loose particulate matter; in other words, thenonwoven/nonfibrous nature of the garments 12 does not lend itself tothe generation of loose particulate matter.

The packaging apparatus 10 includes a cavity or chamber 14 forcompressing a plurality of safety garments 12 placed thereinto. Thechamber 14 typically includes a rectangular base 16 with four generallyplanar walls 18 extending perpendicularly therefrom to define anorthorhombic parallelepiped enclosure 14. In some embodiments, the base16 is a square. The chamber 14 more typically defines a volume fromabout 4500 cubic inches to about 8100 cubic inches. In some embodiments,the chamber 14 is a cube.

The chamber 14 is sized to receive an isostatic ram member 20, shown indetail in FIG. 2. The isostatic ram member 20 is operationally connectedto the chamber 14 and is able to move into the chamber 14 to provide acompressive force to the interior of the chamber 14 sufficient tocompress nonwoven safety garments 12 loaded into the chamber 14 andremove substantially all of the entrapped air therefrom. Typically, aram 20 pressure of about 80 PSI is sufficient to compress the garments12 and facilitate removal of most or all of the entrapped air from thechamber 14. Also typically, there is sufficient gap between the rammember 20 and the chamber walls 18 to allow air to escape as the rammember 20 is introduced into the chamber 14.

The apparatus 10 typically further includes a vacuum system 26 forpulling a partial vacuum on the chamber 14 during the compressionoperation. The vacuum system 26 includes a vacuum pump 28 fluidicallyconnected to the chamber 14 such that actuation of the vacuum pump 28reduces the air pressure in the chamber 14. The vacuum system 26 furtherincludes an air conduit 30 pneumatically or fluidically connected to thechamber 14 for at least partially removing the air therefrom, and alsoan enclosure defining a vacuum chamber 32 within which the chamber 14 isdisposed. The vacuum chamber 32 is shown herein schematically, and maybe of any convenient configuration sufficient to allow the generation ofa partial vacuum within the compression chamber 14.

The apparatus 10 further includes means for wrapping a compressed block36 with a flexible nonshedding wrapping material 38 to yield ansubstantially orthorhombic parallelepiped-shaped block of compressedsafety garments 40, such as a polymer sheet, plastic film, or the like.Such means is illustrated schematically herein, and may comprise anyconvenient automated wrapping technology in the art. The polymerwrapping material 38 is typically a polymer material capable ofsustaining a pressure differential (i.e., vacuum wrapping a bundle ofcompressed garments 12) and is more typically polyethylene,polypropylene, polyester (such as MYLAR®) or the like. The polymerwrapping material 38 is typically of sufficient thickness to retard gasleakage thereacross. In the case of a polyethylene wrapping material 38,the typical sheet thickness is about 4 mils. However, any convenientflexible wrapping material 38 of sufficient thickness to wrap acompressed block 36 sufficiently to retain its substantiallyorthorhombic parallelepiped shape may be selected. Moreover, by wrappingthe block 36 in additional layers, thinner and more deformable wrappingmaterial 38 may be suitable.

In operation, a number of compressible safety garments 12 are typicallyfolded and stacked, and then placed into the chamber 14. Typically,between about 10 and about 15 pounds of safety garments 12 are placedinto the chamber 14 at once. The chamber is typically sized to acceptthe stack of safety garments 12 with a minimum amount of excess volume.Prior to loading with garments 12, the interior of the chamber 14 istypically lined with a polymer or plastic wrapping material 38, suchthat the safety garments 12 are placed into the wrapping material 38 asthey are placed in the chamber 14. Alternately, the wrapping material 38may be applied to the compressed mass 36 after the removal of thecompressed mass 36 from the chamber 14.

Typically, a partial vacuum is then produced within the chamber 14 andthe safety garments 12 are then isostatically pressed to compact theirvolume and remove entrapped air. However, the compaction process doesnot necessarily require the presence of a partial vacuum and may beperformed at standard air pressure. Typically, the safety garments arecompacted to a density of between about 2 and about 5 times theirassociated loose density, and more typically to about 3 times theirloose density. Typically, a force of between about 50 and about 120 PSIis sufficient to achieve such compression. Typically, the density of acompressed mass 36 is about 0.004 pounds per cubic inch.

The wrapping material 38 is then sealed (the sealing process istypically but not necessarily performed under a partial vacuum) and theresulting compressed block 36 is removed from the chamber 14. Typically,the block 36 is again wrapped with wrapping material 38 (i.e., thecompressed block of garments 36 is double wrapped) and the outerwrapping 38 is then sealed (typically heat sealed); alternately, theblock 36 may be heat sealed or otherwise sealed after its initialcompression. More typically, a polymer or plastic gusset 39 is wrappedaround the block 36 to assist in the retention of the block shape; stillmore typically, two or more gussets 39 are wrapped around the block; thegussets 39 may be layered, oriented around different sides of the block(i.e., one horizontally and another vertically) or the like. Theresultant package 40 has the shape of an orthorhombic (typicallyrectangular) parallelepiped and retains that shape during shipping,stacking (typically three or more packages 40 deep) and storage. In oneembodiment, the package 40 has dimensions of about 16×14×12 inches andhas a mass of about 11 pounds.

Typically, the package 40 is substantially free of loose particulatematter, both externally and within. More typically, removal of thewrapping material 38 does not substantially generate particulatematerial. In other words, neither the wrapped protective clothing 12 northe wrapping material 38 making up the package 40 are substantialsources of particulate shedding, during packaging, transport, storage,unwrapping and/or use.

While the claimed technology has been illustrated and described indetail in the drawings and foregoing description, the same is to beconsidered as illustrative and not restrictive in character. It isunderstood that the embodiments have been shown and described in theforegoing specification in satisfaction of the best mode and enablementrequirements. It is understood that one of ordinary skill in the artcould readily make a nigh-infinite number of insubstantial changes andmodifications to the above-described embodiments and that it would beimpractical to attempt to describe all such embodiment variations in thepresent specification. Accordingly, it is understood that all changesand modifications that come within the spirit of the claimed technologyare desired to be protected.

1. A boxless stackable block of prepackaged nonwoven safety garments,comprising: a compressed block of nonwoven safety garments; and at leastone layer of polymer wrapping material enclosing the compressed block ofnonwoven safety garments; wherein the wrapped compressed block ofnonwoven safety garments is substantially free of loose particulatematter; wherein the at least one layer of polymer wrapping materialdefines a generally rectangular parallelepiped shape; and wherein the atleast one layer of polymer wrapping material exerts a force onto thecompressed block sufficient to maintain compression without substantialdistortion of the generally rectangular parallelepiped shape.
 2. Theblock of claim 1 wherein the at least one layer of polymer wrappingmaterial is substantially non-porous.
 3. The block of claim 1 whereinthe at least one layer of polymer wrapping material is polyethylene. 4.The block of claim 1 wherein the at least one layer of polymer wrappingmaterial is about 4 mils thick.
 5. The block of claim 1 wherein the atleast one layer of polymer wrapping material is polyester film.
 6. Theblock of claim 1 wherein the compressed block has a volume of about 2700cubic inches and a mass of about 10 pounds.
 7. The block of claim 1,further comprising at least one polymer gusset reinforcing the generallyrectangular parallelepiped shape of the wrapped compressed block ofnonwoven safety garments; and wherein the at least one polymer gussetexerts a force onto the compressed block sufficient to maintain thecompression of the block without substantial distortion of the generallyrectangular parallelepiped shape.
 8. The block of claim 1, wherein atleast one layer of polymer wrapping material wraps the block undervacuum.
 9. The block of claim 8, wherein the polymer wrapping materialis of sufficient thickness to retard gas leakage therethrough.
 10. Theblock of claim 1, wherein the polymer wrapping material is of sufficientthickness to retard gas leakage therethrough.
 11. The block of claim 1,wherein the generally rectangular parallelepiped shape is substantiallycubic.
 12. The block of claim 1, wherein the nonwoven safety garmentsare formed of a spunbond/melt blown/melt blown/spunbond material. 13.The block of claim 1, wherein the compression exerted by the at leastone layer of polymer wrapping material is sufficient to allow at leasttwo additional, substantially identical blocks to be stacked on top ofit without substantially deforming its generally rectangularparallelepiped shape.
 14. The block of claim 1, wherein the compressionexerted by the at least one layer of polymer wrapping material is suchthat the block of nonwoven safety garments has a density correspondingto about two to about five times the loose density of the nonwovensafety garments.